Page 19 - Peter Farrelly Issue

in the world was a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, a lot of sacrifice. There was a moment, a point in my life when I was struggling off the track, hanging around the wrong people. I had to sacrifice years on the track and turn my life around. I was out partying, out drinking every night. I had to stop all of that in my life to create a healthy environment and a lifestyle so I could be one of the fastest men in the world. It was a lot of sleepless nights and early mornings where my stumps were bleed- ing or they were swollen or sore because I’d trained so hard the night before. It was hard for me to even walk to the bathroom, but I fought through just to get to the track so I could get one more rep or one more round or one more training session in.
The biggest one for me to become the fastest man in the world was my belief system. Once I truly believed deep down with conviction that I can be one of the fastest men in the world, I could really do this, I could break world records, I kept that optimism throughout my life, saying that I could figure this out, speak that out into the universe. That’s when I started seeing the biggest change in my life.
Kaplan: You’ve found so much success as a Para- lympian. What led you to want to compete in the Olympics?
Leeper: I wanted to run in the Olympics, but I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t started in the Paralympics. It kind of gave me the platform to run in the Olympic Games, just even to run in general. I remember in the 2012 Para- lympic Games, I was running the 200. If you remember Oscar Pistorius was running in that 200-meter race, and I remember the status that he had because he ran in both the Olympics and Paralympics. And what I did not like was so many untold stories in the Paralympic Games that should be told. People would focus on the Olympics but not so much on the Paralympics. I felt like I could do my job if I could go out there and run against the fastest runners in the world in both Olympics and Para- lympics. I could show that light back to the Para- lympics, show that, yes, we are Paralympians, but we’re some of the fastest runners in the world, some of the best athletes in the world.
If you ask me, we’re the better athletes in the world because we not only compete at a high level, but we deal with our disability on top of that as well. So, the mindset that it takes to become a high-level Para- lympian will put you in the range of being the fastest or the best athlete in the world. I wanted to be one form of that, to prove to the world that though I do have a dis- ability, that I can be the best in the world.
Kaplan: What do you say to those who discount your training and your ability and say that it’s the blades that give you an advantage? I know you come across this question all the time and it’s very contentious. What do
you say to those people?
Leeper: It’s so funny, because I do hear that a lot. “If I had the blades, if I had that type of technology, I could do what he did, what he does.” Honestly, I’m like, I’d love to say, “Walk a mile in my shoes.” I say that, but I say, “Walk a mile in my blades.” You don’t see people amputating their legs off and running to the prosthetics shop to get set for the blades. It’s not easy. This is not an easy journey. Try to understand what I go through on a daily basis. I have to worry about infections, my pos- ture, I have back problems, I have open wounds. All these things I have to deal with because I’m an amputee. I have to get to the track to train at the highest levels as I possibly can. So yes, it might look easy, it might look simple, but there are not only me but a lot of amputees go through so much just to live a normal healthy life, on top of training.
Kaplan: How were you approached to do the “Abled” documentary?
Leeper: It was interesting. I knew that I wanted to tell my story, and I knew how important it was, and I want- ed to find the right individuals and the right people to tell my story. I didn’t know what route or what journey this was going to do, how deep it was going to go, espe- cially with my fight with the Olympics and the Court of Arbitration of Sport. But when I first walked in with my manager and my weight room coach and he knew a guy who was an editor and wanted to get into the documen- tary filmmaking union editorial, he set up a meeting. “You tell him the story, we’ll see if there’s any connec- tion or any interest.”
And I walk into their offices and I tell them what I knew at the time, like, “I’m in hopes of running in the Olympics. It might be a little battle but not too much. There’s a guy before me who did, so there’s be a precedent set. It should be good to go.” And they were like, “We like this.” And the connection that that had with Einar [Thorsteinsson] was just truly amazing. That’s what’s truly important, especially when it comes to shooting a documentary. You’ve got to be able to trust the people on the other side of the camera to tell your story in the proper way. I had an immediate con- nection with the union team. I was very vulnerable for five years, opening up my life, traveling all around the world, to different places throughout the States. I’m so thankful that I was able to meet them and trusted them to tell the right story for me and for the world as well.
Kaplan: How did you feel when you were found ineligi- ble to compete in the Tokyo Olympics?
Leeper: I was heartbroken. I’m not going to lie. All the blood, sweat, and tears and everything I fought for, and I thought I was barred from running in the Tokyo Olympics unjustly. For them to say that I was too tall,
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